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Which Is playstations most disappointing generation?

Which is Playstation’s most disappointing generation?

  • PS4

    Votes: 72 21.8%
  • No ps3 was

    Votes: 216 65.5%
  • No ps2 was

    Votes: 22 6.7%
  • No ps1 was

    Votes: 20 6.1%

  • Total voters
    330

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It's hard because I had my first major experiences with JRPGs on the PS1. I felt like the library of role playing games and survival horror games were very well made at the time. Prerendered graphics looked amazing.

PS2 had some titles that I didn't like. One title was Ephemeral Fantasia and a local game store recommended it to me. I didn't like it at all. I will say PS2 has a great list of Japanese imports. I bought a Japanese PS2 just for that. I wouldn't say I was disappointed with the console at all.

PS3 was interesting because at first I enjoyed Resistance, VF5, playing through Oblivion's DLC and then we got Haze and Lair. I traded both games back in the same week. I played the majority of Triple A games on PS3, including Bayonetta.

I can't say I have had a bad experience with their consoles, but each console has had awful games or periods of time where the games aren't as great as they were when they were announced. That goes without saying, but it's harder to actually pay for it and experience it yourself.

I bought Alone in the Dark in 2008 and that was a huge letdown. The trailers for that game looked amazing. I also had a terrible time with The Force Unleashed and I got it at midnight. I felt like I had my hopes up.
 

OH-MyCar

Member
I feel like it's a lot more difficult if you're a fan of western games. If you're a fan of Japanese games? Japan took far too long to "get its shit together" in the HD era with the PS3.

It was like watching this for an entire generation:
anigif_enhanced-buzz-3159-1368617607-10.gif
 
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WaterAstro

Member
Obviously, the PS4 era is not finished. You can easily say it's the most disappointing. I actually would attribute that disappointment to the lackluster effort of third party, particularly EA.

It's strange to say PS3 era is most disappointing because the best games in my book came from that era. Sure, the $599 price point made PS3 do the worst out of the family, but the games that came out of that era, like Uncharted 2, The Last of Us, and Journey, were astoundingly good.

I seriously can't pick one out of the three because they all had amazing games that came out. I guess I would have to say PS3 anyway because of the fact The Last Guardian and FFXV got delayed til the next gen, attributed by the fact that the PS3 is very complicated to program for. I mean, I would still rate PS3 higher than PS1 and 2, but that part of the PS3 was disappointing.
 

Pejo

Member
PS4 for me hands down is the most disappointing.

-Paid online
-Fewer exclusives
-Big releases take longer and are almost all "Cinematic" games
-Remasters
-Mid Cycle refreshes

PS3 gen gets a lot of flack, but it's probably my 2nd favorite Playstation gen due to them rolling out of the gates behind the 360. There were so many good and varied exclusives, and I loved the built in PS2 backwards compatibility of the phat.
 

Shifty

Member
Nice data skew in those poll options there.

PS3 for me, they pulled it back come the end but PS1, 2 and 4 are all stronger in my eyes.Going purely on the quality of games rather than system / service level stuff like online.
 
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AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
I put PS3 based on what I know, but it was my first real PS console. I had a PS2 for the last part of the gen, but didn't play all that much on it. The Ps3 was too expensive at first and the HW was difficult for developers and it showed on 3rd party games. That being said it had some great exclusive games/franchises; Demon Souls, Infamous, Uncharted, R&C, Motorstorm, etc. The last part of the gen was outstanding with TLoU and others.

I think the 360 owned the first half of the gen and then dropped the ball with Kinect, then Sony took the second half.
 
Sadly it was the Vita, not cause it didnt have great potential or some really decent first party games but because Sony gave up on it too quickly. I've had mine since launch day and its been great especially for old school RPG's but this handheld had far more potential than it ever got credit for. I think it really started to slide after Call of Duty failed miserably on it, between piss poor match making online, finicky controls and a lack luster single player, the system started to lose alot of 3rd party support and I feel like that should have landed on the team that basically ported over some aspects from the main series. Maybe it didnt really have all that much 3rd party support to begin with, a system like the PS Vita, should have had games like EA's NHL series on it from the beginning. Either way especially with the Nintendo Switch steam rolling through as a hybrid console for home and on the go, I'd be surprised and a little bit on the fence if Sony tried the handheld market again.
 
PS3 had some great games, but never being able to do party chat gave MS so much of an advantage that it wasn't even funny. I'd say PS3 for sure.
 

kunonabi

Member
Gotta go PS3. Worst controller and the amount of truly worthwhile games that weren't better on X360 or ported to the PS4 is in the single digits.
 

Snoopycat

Banned
PS4 easily. There's been a couple of good games but the majority seem to be remakes, rehashes, remasters and sequels. It's all been very bland, very safe, very corporate. Sony came out the gate swinging at the start of this gen but since then I think it's fair to say they've been sitting back, mostly because MS has been a total disaster. I'm hoping, and I believe that next gen is going to be a very different story. Nintendo are strong again and there's no way MS are going to repeat their previous mistakes. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
 

b0bbyJ03

Member
I don’t consider any of them disappointing. PS3 had a disappointing launch but that’s about it. After a while it got going and felt unstoppable. I’ve loved every PS
 
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Zannegan

Member
It has to be the PS3. It had some gems and gave rise to a few successful IPs like Uncharted, inFamous, Last of Us, etc. but coming off the absolute domination that the PS2 enjoyed, the PS3 was a big letdown for fans. Sony lost tons of previously exclusive franchises to multiplatform development and often had the worst versions of them to boot thanks to Kutaragi's weird hardware setup. Also given the popularity of Japanese games on previous Sony systems, the struggles Japanese studios went though that gen made things even worse (though that wasn't Sony's fault, just bad timing).

As with XBox One though, I don't think the fact that the PS3 was a disappointment made it a bad system. It just spoke to the immense success of--and huge expectations established by--its predecessors.
 

LOLCats

Banned
PS3 in retrospect was really disappointing. There were some great games, but that hardware... Sony still dealing with the residual ramifications of the cell processor (no easy software BC).
 
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Barakov

Member
PS3 in retrospect was really disappointing. There were some great games, but that hardware... Sony still dealing with the residual ramifications of the cell processor (no easy software BC).
I agree. PS3 had some great games but downloading anything on PS3 was just obnoxious. I was reminded of this when I downloaded GOW Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta recently.
 

Dargor

Member
Hard to say, all of their generations had great games, and PS3, which was the worst sales wise, had some of the best games they have ever put out, so its really hard for me to choose.

If I had to say one, it would be this one (PS4), great games all around, but most were continuations of already known franchises, so there was nothing "new" for me, even if the quality is still top notch.
 

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
The % for PS3 and XB1 are almost the same for the two polls, so that is something. The question is will next gen be MS's PS4?
 

toker818

Banned
PS4 for me although I hope the new god of war and spiderman change my mind. Only exclusive game from this generation I would give a 10 too would be bloodborne. Not many new IP this generation that's for sure.
 

zelhawks37

Member
Gotta go with PS3 since every other generation for me in regards to Sony has been stellar. Glad Japanese games are making a strong comeback.
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
I've enjoyed them all. I'd say PS3 is probably the weakest. PS1 is my favorite with the birth of some of my favorite franchises and tons of JRPGs.
 

Bryank75

Banned
They've all been great, each brought something different to the table. Hard not to look back on ps1 and 2 with rose coloured glasses though... have very vivid memories of them and my wonder with the new tech.
 

odhiex

Member
To be honest, I have never dissatisfied with the Sony outputs on consoles, well... maybe sightly disappointed with my PSVita 😪( I haven't boot up the handheld in a long time, that memory card prices tho... Insane!! )

All of the PlayStation consoles are equally important for me, including the PSP.

I could however, make a list about my favorite to the least one.

PS2->PS4->PS3->PS1->PSP->PSvita
 

Boss Man

Member
PS4. Mostly a symptom of this generation as a whole, though. Having said that, regardless of the state of the other consoles I felt like PS was the best console to own during the PS2 and PS3 gen - now Xbox One X seems best (if you own a 4K TV at least).

Kind of a lame generation altogether though.
 

Shouta

Member
The PS3 for sure if we're talking just about the home consoles. Including handhelds, it would be the Vita.
 

Z..

Member
None of them is disappointing. They've all been pretty great... What a weird premise for a thread.

I suppose PS3 was the most underwhelming initially but they completely turned that ship around and ended up not only catching up to but eventually surpassing the 360 by quite the margin. PS3's library is the stuff of legend. Both consoles were great (hell, all 3 home consoles were excellent, truth be told), but it's quite telling that PS3 ended up outselling the 360 in every single territory except NA considering how it started out.
 

DiscoJer

Member
Vita, then PS3

I have never been more disappointed with a gaming device than the Vita, and I own an Ouya.
 
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Cato

Banned
PS3 without doubt.
After PS2 they got hubris and initially PS3 was not great.

PS3 did recover towards the end of the generation and came out good up with classics like TLOU but the first 2-3 years after the launch were pretty rough.

(offtopic: I think MS got hubris after 360 and, as for sony, that explains at least some of the wrongs they did at launch. Hopefully they will recover, more humble, in next gen as sony did in current gen.)
 

Lort

Banned
With all these debates i think the next gen will be a bit like xbox vs ps2 .. all about the games and the gamers and playstation having more fans but xbox having a technical advantage .. i predict playstation outselling xbox by 30% unless xbox can demo more killer games if so sales will be even.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
PS3

I mean there's a severe lack of JRPGs in the system I care about for the PS3 era. We were stuck with a middling FF game (though I liked it), a niche classic with mixed reviews (NieR), average Tales games (Graces, Xillia), HD ports of great games (FFX collection, KH collection) and lots of NIS JRPG craps.

At least PS4 had NieR Automata, Persona 5 (though PS3 also has this), Dragon Quest XI, Final Fantasy XV (fight me, I like this more than FFXIII), and even one of the best Tales games (Berseria).
 

bitbydeath

Member
With all these debates i think the next gen will be a bit like xbox vs ps2 .. all about the games and the gamers and playstation having more fans but xbox having a technical advantage .. i predict playstation outselling xbox by 30% unless xbox can demo more killer games if so sales will be even.

I’m still not sure if Xbox will make another console, they still look to be going the service route from everything they’ve said and done.

Maybe E3 will shed more light on their future plans.
 
On PS2 I only cared for Silent Hill 2&3, GTA III and Gran Turismo 3. GameCube (REmake, RE4, Eternal Darkness, Wind Waker) and Dreamcast (Code Veronica, ShenMue) were more important to me.

PS1 had Alundra, Symphony of the Night, Resident Evil 1-3, Final Fantasy VII-IX, Metal Gear Solid
PS3 had SSF4, RE5, REmaster, Tekken Tag 2, Demons & Dark Souls and Super Stardust HD
PS4: Bloodborne, GTA Online, Rocket League, The Witcher III

PS2 had a lot of good games but not enough legendary titles for me. It's the least important to me.
 
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Y2H

Member
While there was nothing disappointing about the PS3 for me, its initial price and lack of games did stop me from buying one for two years until the price dropped considerably.
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
PS4 by far THE WORST.....I don't care about any of the exclusives! sold mine recently....best thing about it was the friends I made in playroom near launch...Rather than a VR headset or a Pro I would have wanted sony to make fun and interesting games I cared about like with the PS3

PS3 was a blast so many great games I could only play on PS3, system was like a super computer at the time...had some issues yes but the most important thing was I had fun with it....ups and downs but never a dull moment...unlike PS4

PS2 I honestly got a bit bored with after the first few years but the games were endless

PS1 was the best everything afterwards was a step down...JRPGS AND FIGHTING GAMES RULED.....Gaming was at its peak for my personal tastes
 

Armorian

Banned
With all these debates i think the next gen will be a bit like xbox vs ps2 .. all about the games and the gamers and playstation having more fans but xbox having a technical advantage .. i predict playstation outselling xbox by 30% unless xbox can demo more killer games if so sales will be even.

I don't think Xbox next sales will be much better than what Xbox One is doing even if both machines will launch simultaneously. Both next gen consoles can end up very similar, I mean VERY - more similiar than PS4 and Xbox One (same CPU and GPU from the same gen, PS4 had more advanced GPU and better memory setup) so the only real difference between consoles will be software - you can already predict that MS will lose that game unless they are investing in first party studios RIGHT NOW.

You belive that MS will lauch year after Sony, you really think that console will be that much more powerfull? AMD GPU gens are lasting years right now so if Sony has 7nm Navi in 2019 MS will have same architecture in 2020 too, if both consoles are going to cost the same difference in specs will be smaller than Xbox1 -> PS4.
 
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JP

Member
Hmm, a difficult one really as disappointment in part comes from expectations.

Perhaps the PS3 is the most disappointing for me but it does also have some of my favourite games from any system. The Vita certainly had some issues but I was expecting nothing from it and I ended up with some fantastic games. It isn't really a proper generation but I think the most disappointing piece of PlayStation hardware for me is probably the PSTV, it really could have ended up being an incredible little machine but it did end up being really disappointing for me.

It's a difficult question because they've always really delivered on games for me. I know that with games it's always going to be a personal thing but even at their worst their games have always really stood out for me.
 
Hmm... I love my PS4 but I feel JRPG on PS4 is not enough for me. If they can release Ninja Gaiden 1-3, Ni no kuni 1, FF8, FF13, Chrono Cross & Trigger, and some more great JRPG on PS4, PS4 is going to be a perfect generation for me.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
I'd change the title to least awesome or something else. None of them disappointed, just they were not all as great. Very different.
 
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